Antiguan opposition urges prime minister to quit

ST. JOHN'S, Antigua (AP) - About 5,000 opposition supporters marched peacefully through Antigua's rain-soaked capital Thursday to urge the embattled prime minister to step down and demand fresh general elections.

The so-called "black march" took place about a week after an Antiguan judge ruled that Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer and two other ruling lawmakers were improperly elected in March 2009 elections, a decision potentially threatening the governing party's narrow hold on power.

"You have to recognize that this country has been governed by a (party) with an impaired mandate," the chairman of the opposition Antigua Labor Party, Gaston Browne, told The Associated Press as he stood near a group of partisans dressed in black.

On March 31, High Court Justice Louise Blenman ruled the 2009 elections in the three districts were not valid, largely due to the late start of voting. Spencer's party quickly secured a stay until April 16 so it could appeal the ruling.

Unless it is overturned, the decision could pave the way for by-elections in the districts or even new general elections. Losing three seats would leave the governing coalition tied with the opposition in Parliament.

Last year's election gave Spencer's party nine of Parliament's 17 seats, down from 12 in the previous assembly. The Barbuda People's Movement, which is allied with Spencer, also won a seat, while the Labor Party won seven.

Labor Party attorneys on Tuesday filed a complaint asking the court to lift the stay.

Meanwhile, Attorney General Justin Simon advised Spencer and the two other lawmakers - Jacqui Quinn-Leandro and John Maginley - to report to work as usual.

Earlier this month, Spencer's government announced that the International Monetary Fund agreed to lend the tiny twin-island nation of Antigua and Barbuda $124 million over three years. The opposition has denounced the arrangement. Some of Thursday's protesters carried signs reading, "Baldwin Spencer killed our economy."

The Caribbean country has been struggling with a budget gap worsened by a drop in tourism and the collapse of R. Allen Stanford's Antigua-based financial empire. The Texas financier helped fund the government and was the country's largest private employer until U.S. authorities accused him of defrauding investors in his offshore bank.

Under opposition leader Lester Bird, the Labor Party worked closely with Stanford, helping him to set up Stanford International Bank in Antigua.

Bird had been a close Stanford ally and denied that his party, which governed for 28 years before the United Progressive Party won office in 2004, did the billionaire's bidding.

Bird said Thursday that new elections would have to be ordered, and he voiced confidence they would pave the way for his Labor Party's return to power.